Science Fiction, Software Friction, Spatial Fantasies: Architectural speculations as a resource for digital design

Dystopic despair and utopian promises manifest a dichotomy dominating architectural and urbanistic discourses on digital technologies. This schism leaves only little room for critical-but-productive research and design perspectives. In this paper, we explore the figure of architectural science fiction to interrogate the historical roots, material disposition, and urban imaginaries underlying today's urban digitization projects. Therefore, we discuss architectural speculation and science fiction as a central resource for contemporary digital design research and education. We will describe the methods and outcomes that we collaboratively developed in an academic design studio. Our approach consisted of three phases with shifting scales and media, investigating the computational utopias as science fiction narratives, as technological systems, and lastly, as critical visions for city planning today. Instead of isolated technical solutions, the participants developed complex architectural perspectives on digital technologies, incorporating spatial aspects, historical trajectories, and multiple stakeholders’ perspectives.